The region has over the last two decades been experiencing the recurrence problem of FMD due to a number of reasons amongst them elephants destroying the border fence paving way for cattle to move freely between Botswana and Zimbabwe, thus spreading the disease.
Ramokgwebana farmers' committee spokesperson, Ennie Ndabulo has told this publication that the farmers have been experiencing sleepless nights since the outbreak.
She said they have been receiving reports of livestock showing signs of FMD on a daily basis.
She elaborated that so far about five farmers in Ramokgwebana village have reported infected cases of FMD.
Ndabulo shared that the FMD recurrence has caused panic amongst the local farmers as they eagerly await the decision by the government on the way forward.
Government has in the past put some measures to control FMD in NED which included culling cattle.
In general, she indicated that the FMD epidemic is a farmer’s tragedy of the year.
Ramokgwebana farmers committee spokesperson indicated that more of their members are regretting about keeping livestock but hope for the best.
She stated that in the past some farmers in their village sold their livestock fearing the recurrence of the FMD.
Ndabulo added: “We are just desperate in this situation because it is beyond our control.”
Matsiloje Farmers Association chairperson Elias Majama said that they are now used to FMD as this is the fourth recurrence in NED.
He said that they are crossing their fingers that their cattle and small stock remain uninfected by FMD.
Majama said that even though they have not registered cases of FMD in their area, the outbreak has affected their income.
Since the outbreak the government moved to suspend movement of the cloven hoofed animals to control the disease.
Majama added: “The decision to strict movement of cloven hoofed animals has affected our income as most of the farmers depend on selling their cattle, goats and sheep. We sell the livestock and small stock to butcheries and during private occasions such as weddings, funerals in order to make a living,” he added.
One farmer from Senyawe village Alfred Samson expressed panic fearing that his cattle may be affected by FMD.
The 60-year-old felt that the government is not giving them enough support to control FMD.
Therefore he said that, since the outbreak of FMD in the region back in 2001, he took a deliberate decision to keep not more than 10 cattle in his kraal.
Luckily, he said that he sold some of his cattle before the occurrence of the recent FMD and is only left with five cows.
As a breadwinner in a family of 20 people including his 11 grandchildren, Samson said that he is struggling to bring income because he mostly depends on selling his small stock and cattle.
He urgently prayed with the government to come up with durable measures to control FMD.
